A silly war that broke out between UK/Canada and the USA that resulted in nothing good in which both sides lost a lot of men and gained nothing for it.
Now used as a stupid excuse for superpatriots from both CUNTries to slag each other off.
The was had significant victories and losses for both sides.
For example:
The Yanks captured Toronto
The Brits captured Detroit

The Yanks burnt Toronto
The Brits burnt Washington DC

The Brits failed to capture Baltimore
The Yanks failed to capture Montreal

The Brits were basly defeated at New Orleans
The Yanks were badly defeated at Queenston heights

Think I've made my point clear.
The War of 1812 was a draw, the Americans didn't win and neither did the British.
But of course with pricks such as JB and Kung-Fu Jesus using this dictionary the phrase is going to be nothing more than an exucse for Brits and Americans to horribly bash each other

The Urban Dictionary Mug

A war between the British Empire and the United States of America from 1812-1815 CE. Generally considered a spin-off conflict or associated minor conflict to the Napoleanic Wars, because the original issue of the war was the United States' issues with Britain and France who blockaded American shipping that resulted from the larger war and thus violated America's rights as a neutral nation. James Monroe was president at this time. Other notable leaders were Governer Prevost of Lower Canada, General Isaac Brock, Native leader Tecumseh, and General Jackson.

Because of the geography of the conflict and the United States of America's contemporary status as a minor power, the only way for America to vent its rage against Britain was to attack Britain's possessions north of its borders. The British provinces and homelands of the emerging two nations of future Canada, Upper Canada (Ontario), and Lower Canada (Québec) as well as the American New England States were the primary theatres of conflict.

RESULT

Treaty of Ghent ends War of 1812, restores status quo ante bellum. Significant loss of life and property, including vital government infrastructure from the burning of York, Upper Canada, and Washington, D.C. Despite the obvious ill feeling generated by the conflict, the Treaty of Ghent provided for the creation of commisions to deal peacefully issues between the United States and Great Britain, and later on Canada. The aftermath of the war also was notable as a dark period for the native tribes of North America, as the destruction of Tecumseh's Confederacy broke the power of the eastern Native tribes and paved the way for unchecked American expansion at their expense.

LEGACY

Probably the most misrepresented chapter of North American history, generations of obsessively jignostic Canadians and Americans have bent the historical facts to conclude that their nation "won" the conflict. The British, being the sane ones in this cherade, don't really care that much.

Canadians tend to assert that it was their militia had handily defeated the USA and burnt the White House. This is false, a British fleet did the deed. Canadian militia merely held their ground.

Americans tend to claim victory over the Battle of New Orleans, when this battle happened after the Treaty of Ghent was signed, and the British force could not be reached in time to inform them.

The Urban Dictionary Mug

Truly one of the most pointless wars ever fought. This is largely in part due to the Americans claiming the impressment of American sailors into the Royal Navy as their main reason to go to war. Thanks to the communications of the period, it would be months before Americans learned the British Parliament had voted to cease Impressment a day prior to the invocation of the declaration of war.

When the treaty of Ghent was signed at the end of 1814, all conquered land was returned to its previous owner, a declaration of status-quo. This meant that the British would be returned the far south of Upper Canada, while the Americans would be returned Fort Niagara, New York, the northern half of the state of Maine, the Northwest Territories, and Fort Astoria (in modern day Oregon).

Although the Americans won no territory immediately after the conflict, for many years the British would cede territory to them, and the threat of the northwest Indians had ended.

According to British documents, officially 1600 British soldiers died in battle. According to American documents, officially 2200 Americans died in combat. However, the militia fighting for both sides had a tendency to keep poor records, the indians known to keep none oncesoever, so combat deaths are likely higher. Moreover, the American military, after a string of disasters early in the war, often delibrately under-reported it's losses, while inconsistences in British dispatches and regimental accounts of casualties may offer a similar result. Furthermore, losses from exposure and disease ran high, formost in the American military. It is estimated that at any given time, 33% of British troops would be unavailable for action due to sickness, while 50% of American soldiers could be expected to be unable to fight.

All in all, the war's greatest results were a sense of patriotism in both the Canadians and Americans, and the final screwing over of the northwest indian peoples.

Teacher: "Who won the War of 1812?"
Student: "Not the Indian peoples."

Bob: "The American army fought bravely during the War of 1812"
Ray: "Too bad they were largely lead by incompetent louts until 1814."

The Urban Dictionary Mug

The outcome of the war was a stalemate: neither side benefited when the Treaty of Ghent was signed. However, during the war a British blockade forced the United States, a mercantile nation, to seriously industrialize because its lucrative trade with Europe was disrupted.

Also, Americans began, for better or worse, to develop their own distinct culture that distanced itself from Britain. With some exceptions in more sophisticated cities like New York and Philadelphia, and a few major southern plantations, European high culture and intellectualism were taboo in America for many years after the war. This was the era that saw the emergence of rural "white trash" American folk heroes like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone.

The Urban Dictionary Mug

From the British point of view, an annoying distraction from the main task of beating Napoleon.

From the American point of view, time to fight back against the British policy of pressganging US citizens into the Royal Navy.

From the Canadian point of view, a War of Liberation against a piece of naked US aggression. The US believed it was their "manifest destiny" to control the whole of the North American continent (hence also the war against Mexico). This remained their dominant philosophy, well into the twentieth century and arguably they still haven't got it out of their system.

The continued existence of the Dominion of Canada proves that the US lost the War of 1812. The British had already revoked the pressganging policy a few days before hostilities began. If it wasn't for the absurd Louisiana campaign, no myth of victory, or even a draw, would have persisted.